Pakistan International Airlines Passenger Killed by Bullets

PESHAWAR, Pakistan -- A female passenger was killed and three flight attendants injured when gunmen fired at a commercial jet as it approached the runway for landing late Tuesday. One of the bullets narrowly missed the captain of Pakistan International Airlines Flight PK756, which was carrying 178 passengers from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, to Peshawar in northwest Pakistan. The cabin was pierced by eight bullets as the Airbus A310 flew over the city's Badhber district, which is considered no-go area for police.

The dead passenger was identified as 50-year-old Matnoon Bibi. She was travelling with her 9-year old daughter, according to local police official Bakhtiar Ahmad. "The bullets pierced through the service door and hit her on the head. She died of severe bleeding," he said. An airline spokesman added that three male flight attendants had been taken to the military-run hospital in Peshawar. Senior security officials described the shooting as a terrorist act, alleging the gunmen had hoped to hit the jet's fuel tank and cockpit.